posted 03-05-2020 09:24 AM               

A groundbreaking political history of the Apollo program.

Since July 1969, Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon has represented the pinnacle of American space exploration and a grand scientific achievement. Yet, as Smithsonian curator Teasel Muir-Harmony argues in Operation Moonglow, its true purpose wasn't advancing science. Rather, it was part of a strategy to build a global coalition in support of the United States.

Starting with John F. Kennedy's 1961 decision to send astronauts to the Moon as a mission for freedom over Soviet tyranny, Project Apollo was central to American policy. From that perspective, the critical event wasn't the Moon landing, but the publicity tour that followed, as the Apollo astronauts and Richard Nixon tried to bring the world along on America's adventure.

Drawing on a rich array of untapped archives and firsthand accounts by Apollo astronauts, Operation Moonglow paints a riveting picture of geopolitics, propaganda, and diplomacy during the Cold War.

• Hardcover: 336 pages
  
• Basic Books (November 24, 2020)
  
• ISBN-10: 1541699874
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1541699878

posted 03-05-2020 07:43 PM               

I do have trouble with the following blurb,"...its [the Apollo Program's] true purpose wasn't advancing science."

posted 11-10-2020 05:16 PM               

Seminar on Contemporary Science, Technology, and Culture

Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 4:00 p.m. EST

The 2020-2021 Contemporary History Seminar continues on Wednesday, November 18th on Zoom. The speaker will be Teasel Muir Harmony, Space History Curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, discussing "Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo."

When President Kennedy proposed Project Apollo in 1961, he was not only aiming at the Moon. Kennedy saw the moonshot as the nation's best hope for winning the hearts and minds of the world, and in turn, fostering a global coalition aligned with America's Cold War interests. This talk focuses on the first lunar orbital mission — Apollo 8 — to showcase the central significance of spaceflight within twentieth-century international relations, and the complicated ways that nationalism and globalism are historically bound together.

Please register in advance for this talk. Before the talk, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The link you receive should not be shared with others; it is unique to you.